SA's best draft hopefuls, from left, Jimmy Toumpas, Sam Mayes, Brodie Grundy, Ben Kennedy and Tim Broomhead. Picture: Sarah Reed. Source: The Advertiser
PORT Adelaide is eyeing a pot of SA gold at this year's AFL national draft.
Burned by 2010 first-round draft pick Ben Jacobs' shock decision to return to Melbourne, the Power will more than ever favour homegrown talent over interstaters.
Armed with three selections inside the top 31 (seven, 30 and 31), Port is in a strong position to get its teeth into what is considered the best group of top-end SA talent in more than a decade.
Draft expert and AFL talent manager Kevin Sheehan has forecast seven Croweaters will be selected in the top 30 at the draft, to be held at the Gold Coast Convention Centre on Thursday night.
They will include gun Woodville-West Torrens premiership midfielder Jimmy Toumpas, ace Sturt ruckman Brodie Grundy - rated the best big man in the draft - forwards Sam Mayes (North Adelaide) and Troy Menzel (Central District), Tigers small forward Ben Kennedy and two players whose draft stock has risen through the roof in the second half of the season, Glenelg utility Tim O'Brien and Magpies on-baller Tim Broomhead.
Meanwhile, Sam Colquhoun (Central) and Matthew McDonough (Eagles) are other Croweaters who loom as potential second-round picks.
"It's the best group of South Australians I can recall for a while," Port football operations manager Peter Rohde said. "There are a lot of good players there and clearly we would be interested in a few of them.
"Whether any of them fall to us, time will tell.
"But if there are players we rate equally and one's a South Australian and the other isn't, we'll certainly go for the local boy.
"What that does take away is the go-home factor.
"But we're not going to select a lesser player because he's South Australian."
Toumpas and Grundy are certain top-10 picks.
Menzel and Mayes could also be among the first 10 players to be selected.
With three good picks in a draft clubs rate as strong at the top but lacking depth beyond the second round, Rohde said the Power would be taking a best-player available philosophy to re-generate a list that has lost the experienced Troy Chaplin (Richmond), Danyle Pearce (Fremantle), David Rodan (Melbourne) and Jacob Surjan and Steven Salopek (delisted).
Port was awarded picks 30 and 31 as compensation for losing Chaplin and Pearce to free agency. Now it needs to cash in on those picks.
"You always want to have strong drafts but with the selections we have this year we feel we're in a position to really improve our list," Rohde explained.
"From that point of view, it is an important draft for us and we need to make sure we get our picks right."
With Jacobs quitting the club to nominate for the draft, the Power has four spots to fill on its list. But it will bow out of the national draft after its third pick, leaving a spot open to secure a player, possibly former Demon Liam Jurrah, in the December 11 pre-season draft.
"We like the idea of having a pre-season draft pick, we've very often had one, we've probably had as many pre-season draft picks as any club and it's served us well over the years," Rohde said.
"It gives you the opportunity to get players out to train, have a look at them and after the national draft measure up your list and see what you might need."
Adelaide did not expect to be in a position to draft any of SA's top-end talent as it prepared to front the AFL Commission on Monday over allegations of salary cap rorting and draft tampering.
But with the special meeting being adjourned indefinitely, it will now be able to participate in the draft, with its first selection coming at No. 20.
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